[Crawl-Date: 2026-04-25] [Source: DataJelly Visibility Layer] [URL: https://delta-report.com/article/scientists-film-trees-glowing-with-electricity-during-thunderstorms] --- title: Scientists Film Trees Glowing With Electricity During Thu... description: Meteorologists have suspected that the tops of trees behave like giant lightning rods during storms, emitting tiny bursts of electricity into the sky. While... url: https://delta-report.com/article/scientists-film-trees-glowing-with-electricity-during-thunderstorms canonical: https://delta-report.com/article/scientists-film-trees-glowing-with-electricity-during-thunderstorms og_title: Lovable App og_description: Delta Report generates professional social media hooks and shareable images for articles. og_image: https://storage.googleapis.com/gpt-engineer-file-uploads/rKnmu2lE1EfVHXh0aPFnIJCbDn32/social-images/social-1776756200303-delta-report-logo.webp twitter_card: summary_large_image twitter_image: https://storage.googleapis.com/gpt-engineer-file-uploads/rKnmu2lE1EfVHXh0aPFnIJCbDn32/social-images/social-1776756200303-delta-report-logo.webp --- # Scientists Film Trees Glowing With Electricity During Thu... > Meteorologists have suspected that the tops of trees behave like giant lightning rods during storms, emitting tiny bursts of electricity into the sky. While... --- Earthby Daniel AreemanApril 21, 2026 April 21, 2026·Earth BY Daniel Areeman ## Scientists Film Trees Glowing With Electricity During Thunderstorms Sharehttps://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fdelta-report.com%2Farticle%2Fscientists-film-trees-glowing-with-electricity-during-thunderstormshttps://x.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdelta-report.com%2Farticle%2Fscientists-film-trees-glowing-with-electricity-during-thunderstorms&text=Scientists%20Film%20Trees%20Glowing%20With%20Electricity%20During%20Thunderstorms ## AT A GLANCE - •Specialized UV cameras recorded forests emitting electrical corona discharges during storms. - •Corona discharges produce hydroxyl molecules that chemically clean the atmosphere. - •Electrical pulses cause physical damage to tree leaves during storms. Meteorologists have suspected that the tops of trees behave like giant lightning rods during storms, emitting tiny bursts of electricity into the sky. While these "corona discharges" were visible in laboratories, they remained a ghost in the wild. That changed recently when a team of researchers from [Penn State](https://www.psu.edu/news/earth-and-mineral-sciences/story/treetops-glowing-during-storms-captured-film-first-time) successfully caught the phenomenon on film using a custom-built telescope mounted to a minivan. The team spent weeks chasing storms across the American Southeast to find evidence of these glowing canopies. They eventually tracked a massive cell to a parking lot at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Using a specialized ultraviolet (UV) camera, they watched as the tips of a sweetgum tree and a loblolly pine sparked with life. These pulses of light happen as electrical fields build up between the ground and heavy storm clouds overhead. The study, published in *Geophysical Research Letters*, confirms that forests are far more electrically active than we can see with the naked eye. ## The Chemistry of a Glowing Forest This discovery is about more than just a light show; it reveals a natural air-cleaning system. When a thunderstorm rolls in, clouds develop a strong negative charge. This pulls a positive charge up through the soil and into the trees. Because tree leaves often have sharp or pointed tips, the electrical force becomes concentrated at these tiny points. This force is strong enough to rip apart nearby water vapor molecules, creating a chemical called hydroxyl. ADVERTISING [![Wonder Drop In-Text](https://enrlnesmyvndrepnihlt.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/article-images/0.583775604562929.jpg) ](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wonder-drops/id6759563899) ![](https://enrlnesmyvndrepnihlt.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/article-images/media-bin/907bf131-3f99-4422-bb0d-bdfb3792d306.webp) The positive, left, and negative corona discharges are shown on a spruce branch in a nearly pitch-black environment of a meteorology and atmospheric sciences lab at Penn State. Credit: William Brune / Penn State. Hydroxyl is known as the "detergent" of the atmosphere. It reacts with gases like methane and other pollutants, breaking them down so they can be washed away by rain. By documenting these discharges, researchers can now better understand how forests help scrub the air. The team's research suggests that [human activity](https://delta-report.com/article/human-activity-is-flickering-into-space-satellite-data-reveals-gains-and-losses-in-global-light) and natural lightning aren't the only things changing our atmosphere’s chemistry; the trees themselves are playing an active role during every storm. ## Advanced Tools for Elusive Light Capturing the corona discharge required a unique blend of high-tech sensors and DIY engineering. The scientists used a 2013 Toyota Sienna with a periscope and a Newtonian telescope. This device, was designed to filter out almost all light except for specific UV wavelengths. Because the sun’s UV rays are blocked by the atmosphere, any light the camera detected during the storm had to come from lightning, fire, or the corona itself. The data from the North Carolina storm was prolific. The sensors recorded 859 separate corona events on the sweetgum tree alone. Some flashes lasted only a fraction of a second, while others glowed for several seconds at a time. This technology is similar to how [Martian storms](https://delta-report.com/article/lightning-in-the-dust-how-martian-storms-electrify-the-planets-chemistry) are studied to understand electricity on other planets. On Earth, however, this electricity is happening right in our own backyards, interacting directly with living biology. ## Unseen Effects on Tree Health While the atmospheric benefits are clear, the impact on the trees themselves is still under investigation. The Penn State team noted that the leaves where the glow occurred showed signs of slight physical damage. This raises new questions for biologists: have trees evolved to handle these regular electrical zaps, or do they suffer long-term stress from the proximity of thunderstorms? The researchers are now teaming up ecologists to see if this process helps or hinders forest growth. Identifying the frequency and power of these events could change how we view forest health in a world with shifting weather patterns. Future studies may look at whether certain species, like those with needles or waxy leaves, are more prone to these discharges. For now, the team has proven that the forest floor is not the only place where nature’s hidden chemistry takes place. [EARTH](https://delta-report.com/tag/earth) [Ecology](https://delta-report.com/tag/ecology) [Climate Science](https://delta-report.com/tag/climate-science) [Ecosystems](https://delta-report.com/tag/ecosystems) [Environmental Research](https://delta-report.com/tag/environmental-research) ![Daniel Areeman - Author](https://enrlnesmyvndrepnihlt.supabase.co/storage/v1/render/image/public/article-images/avatars/d63e9e0b-c74a-4722-85e2-dd9aaa2b0030.jpg?width=128&height=128&quality=80&resize=cover) ## Daniel Areeman With a background in theoretical physics, Daniel explores the invisible forces that govern our world. 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